As more students are turning to sex work in order to earn money while enrolled in school, their universities must start offering them non-judgmental support, according to some experts.
Both students and their advocates have accused colleges of “simply burying their heads in the sand” over the issue, despite a growing number of young people admitting to engaging in such activity to help fund their educations, The Independent reported.
“We have found that people are mostly working for everyday needs,” Laura Watson, a spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes, a group which supports the decriminalization of prostitution in the U.K., told The Independent. “…some people are definitely working to pay off the tuition fees.”
The problems of a higher cost of living and university tuition and expenses along with easy access to apps that make sex work more plausible have been cited as reasons why young people are turning to prostitution.
And yet some schools are not only ignoring the issue, but actively blocking student support groups aimed at helping these young people in particular. One woman who turned to sex work was evicted from her home and threatened with expulsion, according to The Independent‘s report.
“I thought, you want me to escape sex work but then in order to punish me for doing sex work you are going to remove the only opportunity I have, my degree, to escape sex work,” the unidentified student said.
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